Twice she’s found snake skins,
long and intact, and twice she’s
picked them up and placed
them in her room. She, too, has
left behind old skins
as she grows into someone
new. With a sigh, I do this too.
JDG
Alright Already!
I know things have gone
too far when the messenger
light on the car says
“Tighten gas cap,” and even
when I comply, it
won’t let it go, but keeps on
blinking its distrust at me.
JDG
Difficult Truths
“You cannot fix what
you will not face,” as James
Baldwin said. Even
then there’s no guarantee, but
at least we’re one step closer.
JDG
Median Matters
Sometimes the middle
is the best place to be as
those Bachelor Buttons
know, having seen their fellow
flowers on the margins mowed.
JDG
This Day
On this day I long
to make poetry and peace.
Both start from within.
JDG
Roadside Tale
The reaper comes, grim as ever,
harvesting bright bits of color,
leaving sweeps of leveled green.
Though his triumph won’t last the summer,
for a time he reigns supreme.
JDG
It’s A Reach
Somewhere, maybe close,
someone cries, reaches out for
help or hides. Somewhere,
maybe close, someone giggles,
reaches out, invites
us to join the fun. To choose
one is not to say
no to the other. Our hearts
can hold sorrow and
delight in equal measure.
This truth, our minds can
come to know. Practice doesn’t
make life perfect, but
it can soften our edges,
strengthen and lengthen our reach.
JDG
Above And Beyond
Several strange synchronicities suggest
there’s a hidden
hand at work
behind
the
scene,
one that’s
willing to
help those who are
obviously oblivious like me.
JDG
Though We Rail
Constraints have value.
Without them we’d easily
drift – get lost in space.
JDG
Not Only Wise But Savvy
In fifteen minutes she’d reformatted and sent
the spread sheet of guests
her daughter had asked her to send
when she learned
she couldn’t open the original.
How lucky this daughter was
that at ninety years old
her mom was computer savvy
and luckier still, she said
in her birthday toast,
to have been raised by a mom
who always loved learning
and was living and loving and learning still.
JDG
(For Mary Lee Allen, remarkable for far more than her computer skills, on her 90th birthday.)
